The IRgA Index is the association’s quarterly research project. The Index survey asks members to report whether their business in various areas has grown, shrunk, or remained the same in the previous quarter. The Index is based on a scale wherein a rating of 50 means that a service is completely flat; any ranking above 50 means a service is growing, and anything below 50 means a service is shrinking. We have been collecting this data now for six consecutive quarters, and a few interesting facts have emerged:
1) On-site services has been the most consistent service offered. In the first quarter of 2014, its rating was 69, and it never wavered lower than 66 or higher than 71. In the second quarter of 2015 it stood at 68.
2) Equipment sales has been the most inconsistent category. It reached a high of 71 in the second quarter of 2014 and a low of 54 in the fourth quarter of 2015, a spread of 17 points.
3) In terms of overall Index, for both AEC and non-AEC, the Southeast has been the most consistent territory. Reprographics shops in those areas have consistently reported a rating for AEC business from the mid 50s to mid 70s, and for non-AEC in the 70s and 80s.
4) The service that has shown the least growth among all quarters and regions is small-format printing. It had the lowest rating in four of the last six quarters.
5) The most consistently growing individual service across regions is large-format color. It has never been lower than 63 in any region, and is frequently 100 (which means all shops in that region report higher sales than the previous quarter).
Please look for the next survey in the coming weeks. If you would like to receive the detailed results of each survey, be sure to complete the survey.